Cookbooks have an extremely long gestation period, and this one was no different, for it is no exaggeration to say that it began when I was four or five years old, standing in the kitchen of my family home and watching my father whip up a quick börek for his lunch. Yeah, I’m sure that you’ve read all manner of chefs say the same thing, but it is no less true for that.

I had an absolutely fabulous time writing this book. Trust me on this, working your way through the markets of Damascus, the streets of Lebanon, and the restaurants of Istanbul, is no hardship, it was a real pleasure. The weather was wonderful, the people were hospitable and the food was stupendous. Hard work, I don’t think so!

It might be a bit hackneyed to say that I am over the moon with the press coverage of Purple Citrus and Sweet Perfume, but I am! Everyone wants their baby to be loved, and I am delighted to say that the early feedback has been beyond my wildest expectations. Thank you so much to everyone for their kind words and best wishes.

The weatherman, if he’s not telling fibs, has promised us a warm weekend, so instead of a traditional Sunday roast, why not try making 

The weatherman, if he’s not telling fibs, has promised us a warm weekend, so instead of a traditional Sunday roast, why not try making veal, prawn and cumin kebabs with pomegranate, pink grapefruit and avocado salad garnished with nasturtium flowers? A dish packed with flavours from the Eastern Mediterranean. Delicious.

Until very recently I was madly in love with the great mystical city of Istanbul. I thought that no place could be so grand, nor so steeped in history, and that love has not diminished, but a new light has come into my life: Damascus.

Damascus, one of greatest cities in history, was already old when Rome was founded. Its heritage seeps from every wall, permeating the fabric of the city and the very bones of the citizens, the friendliest people that I have ever had the pleasure to meet. Damascus’s dilapidated grandeur is absolutely magical, oozing surreal emotions and passions in dreamlike splendour.

It is no exaggeration to say that visiting Damascus brings me a sense of renewal. It is like waking from a night’s sleep a day younger, not older. All the words in the world cannot describe this place. You need to go there to feel its soul and energy, for it is for ever young.

This quote from Alphonse de Lamartine is such a perfect way to imagine the city, I love it.

‘Through a gap in the rocks, my eye fell on the strangest and most fantastic sight which man has ever seen: it was Damascus and its boundless desert, a few hundred feet below my path … first the town, surrounded by its walls, a forest of minarets of all shapes, watered by the seven branches of its river, and streams without number, until the view is lost in a labyrinth of flower gardens and trees…’

Silvena Rowe invites you on a journey through Oriental Mediterranean history, sampling some of the best-kept secrets of the culinary world along the way. The olive, rosemary and basil of the west are here combined with the exotic spices of the east, for a contemporary cuisine of surprising lightness and variety – proof, if proof were needed, that there is more to the Mediterranean than just Italy and France.

It’s food for sharing, food for healthy living, food for celebrating – and above all it’s delicious! Silvena Rowe gives her own modern twist to the classic recipes of a rich tradition, following in the footsteps of the great Ottoman chefs who combined the sweet and the sour, the fresh and the dried, the honey and cinnamon, saffron and sumac, scented rose and orange flower waters.

Presenting mouth-watering recipes alongside stunning photography, Purple Citrus & Sweet Perfume brings to life the natural beauty and irresistible flavours of the Eastern Mediterranean.